Tears on Red Roses
by Lily-Finn178
Summary: It's Sandry's wedding day. But where's Briar? A bouquet of roses plus a crying Sandry equalsBriar's confession of love? BriarSandry oneshot


yet another briar/sandry for all u briar/sandry fans! (im a hardcore briar/sandry fan! r u?)

for all of u who have NOT read WotE yet, this contains slight spoilers!

Disclaimer: don't own, as u all probably know...i _did_ own CoM, i would be screaming & running in the streets like some crazy person! cause i am a crazy person!

_Italics---flashback_

Regular---present day

* * *

_Sandry twirled around and looked into the mirror held before her by her servants. Placing her small hands on her hips, she turned to the two girls before her and asked, "Do you think Matthias will like this dress?"_

_Tris, the redhead with the glass dragon perched on her shoulder, yawned and replied, "How am I supposed to know what that man likes?"_

_Pouting, Sandrilene turned to the other girl, a tall, broad black Trader by the name of Daja. "What do you think?"_

_Daja shrugged just as the door to the room burst opened and another woman and a boy strolled into the room. Dedicate Lark sighed when she saw Sandry and made her spin in a circle, sighing, "You look truly beautiful, Sandry. It's a perfect dress for your wedding."_

_Behind Lark, the boy made a gruff snort. Sandry glared at her foster-brother and said, "Do you have something to say about my dress, Briar?"_

_Briar shook his head, and looked at her with gray-green eyes that sparkled with something Sandry couldn't name. When she glanced into those magnificent eyes, Sandry felt her heart whoop and do flips in her chest. She ignored the feeling of bliss, trying to tell herself that she was only excited because her wedding was in two months._

_"I hope Matthias likes it." Sandry mumbled forlornly, turning away form Briar to look in the mirror. _

_"That bleater can't like anything without his precious mentors to hold his hand." Briar mumbled. Sandry whirled around and glared fiercely at him. Briar didn't return her gaze, though._

_"Why do you have such a problem with Matthias? He's a good man. I don't see why you don't like him," Sandry snapped._

_Briar didn't answer. Without looking at Sandry or the other woman, his eyes glued to the floor, he stalked out of the room, his expression set between a grimace and sadness._

* * *

Daja knocked hesitantly on the door to Sandry's room inside the Citadel. Gudruny, a maid that Sandry had saved from Namorn, admitted her, and the Trader found Sandry was pacing the room nervously.

"You're going to tread a visible path on the floor if you keep doing that." Daja spoke. Sandry saw her and raced into the other girl's arms. Daja, startled, relaxed and asked her friend, "What's wrong?"

"Where's Briar? I need to talk to him." Sandry whispered.

Daja went tense before she answered, "He…He's not here, Sandry. Tris and I can't find him anywhere."

Sandry backed away from Daja, her eyes wide with anxiety. "But it's my _wedding_ day! And he's my foster-brother—he should be _here_!" She pressed her fists into her eyes to keep from crying. Fumbling for a chair to sit in, Sandry cried, "Where is he if he isn't here? Didn't he come with you and Tris?"

Daja shook her head. "He said he was busy with something and would come later on. But he made sure to tell us he'd be there before the wedding started."

Sandry, finally finding a chair, plopped down in it and rocked back and forth uneasily. "What is he so busy with that he can't make it early to my wedding?"

The metal mage sighed and walked over to her friend and patted the noble's back. Then, noticing that Sandry's fists were wet from tears, she said, "This isn't just about Briar not coming early, is it? You're worried about something else." Daja paused. "Are you having second thoughts, about the wedding, I mean."

Sandry stopped rocking in her seat and went silent. She looked up at Daja with red, puffy eyes. Slowly, she nodded her head. Then, in a rush, she blubbered, "I'm so nervous and I can't think straight. I'm not sure if…If what I'm doing…is right…And I…I think…There might…be… someone else…"

"Wait, slow down. I thought you loved Matthias. Who's 'someone else'?" Daja asked, perplexed. She laid a hand on the noble girl's shoulder to urge her to explain.

"I _did_ think I loved Matthias. But now…I'm not sure. I'm _confused_." Sandry whined. She glanced down to the floor. She didn't want to answer Daja's question. And she wasn't entirely confused. She _knew_ there was someone else who had stolen her heart…

_

* * *

"How can you refuse, Briar? This is a chance to do me a big favor and make me really happy." Sandry complained to the plant mage sitting beside her._

_Briar shook his head. "I don't want to do the flower arrangements for your wedding. I'm sure you can get Rosethorn to do it."_

_"But _you_ know me more than Rosethorn does. You'll know what I'll like and what I won't like." Sandry was practically on her knees before him. "Please, Briar? For me, your little foster-sister?"_

_"No! I don't want to." Briar snapped. He turned around on his stool to look her tin the eyes. His own gray-green eyes were blazing with anger and something else Sandry chose to ignore. "It's your wedding, you do it. Have Rosethorn help you."_

_Sandry stamped her foot on the ground and gave him a very serious pout that told him she wouldn't stop annoying him to do the flower arrangements until he agreed to do so. Briar breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down. He turned away to continue working on the miniature tree set up in front of him. "I don't see why you want me to make the flower arrangements, anyway."_

_The pout dropped form Sandry's face and she placed a hand on his forearm. Briar shrugged her away, his body tense. Determined, Sandry placed both her hands on his shoulders and told him, "You're my brother, Briar. Ii really want you to do this." She laid her forehead on the back of his head and her arms slipped down to encircle his neck. "And you can at least _pretend _to like Matthias."_

_Briar shook his head, stood up, and tugged her arms away from her neck. Storming from the room, Briar yelled at her, "I won't do it!"_

_Letting out a sigh of grief, Sandry slipped to the floor and held her head in her hands. She wished she knew why Briar wouldn't do the flower arrangements. It tore at her heart, making her dispirited and crushed._

* * *

Once Daja had left, Sandry began pacing again. She ordered Gudruny to leave and oversee the preparations in the ballroom, where the reception after the wedding was to be held. The noble girl kept glancing at the door, hoping to see the real love of her life amble into the room, explain that he was late because he had been working with a rather stubborn fig tree, and tell her how beautiful she looked in her wedding dress. And then, he would plead for her not to get married to the man she was betrothed.

But she knew that wouldn't happen. It never would. And after today, Sandry would never allow herself to think such foolish things.

Frustrated with herself, Sandry rifled through her wardrobe and drew out a dark blue wool cloak and tugged it over her shoulders, concealing her dress. She peeked out the door and snuck out when she was sure no one was down the corridor. She made it to the stable without being noticed, diving behind corners whenever someone doing last minute preparations for the wedding came near her.

She saddled her horse and hopped on it with ease, despite what she was wearing wasn't at all suitable for riding. She urged the horse to a gallop and escaped to Summersea, where she urged the horse on faster towards Winding Circle. After shortly stopping by Daja's house and sensing that Briar wasn't there, she traveled onward to the place where she was positive Briar was.

On her way to Discipline, Sandry went over the last few months in her mind. She remembered, it was shortly after she and her friends had returned to Emelan from Namorn. It was then when she began to feel strange around Briar. She blushed whenever he smiled at her, and her heartbeat sped up when he was near. She felt happy and radiant, yet scared and anxious at the same time. She didn't know what she was feeling or when she exactly she realized how wonderful Briar was, and she told herself it was just a phase, that it would go away in due time.

But it didn't go away. She kept feeling funny near Briar, and it was starting to make her even more afraid than she was when she first realized her new feelings. She told herself that these feelings weren't right, that Briar was _only_ a brother, and that sisters don't feel that way for their brothers. But that didn't work and Sandry figured out she needed something to help herself forget about her strange newfound emotions.

The perfect opportunity came when a young nobleman from Capchen arrived at the Citadel. Matthias fer Charaye. He was supposed to be visiting Baron Erdogun fer Baigh, a friend of his family's. When Sandry and Matthias met, it seemed like heaven and they instantly became infatuated with one another. A month later, Matthias had asked for her hand in marriage. And Sandry accepted, although most people thought their relationship was going too fast. Sandrilene didn't care. Matthias was a perfect way to forget her passion for Briar.

But even that didn't help. Only after their second month of knowing each other, Sandry had found she liked Matthias better as a friend and she kept sneaking away from him to take trips to Briar, who had suddenly started acting cold and aloof towards her. Even Tris and Daja admitted that all he would do was work in his workroom and eat. Sandry felt horrible and she wanted to know what was wrong with Briar, but he had refused to speak to her most times, and when they talked, it was like they were strangers. He had even cut off her off whenever she had tried to mind-speak to him.

She tied her horse up just outside of Discipline cottage and eagerly entered her former home. It was the same as always, except there was no Little Bear to great her when she came through the door. Lark and Rosethorn had taken him with them to the Citadel, along with Comas, Glaki, Evvy, and Luvo, Evvy's friend from Yanjing. That meant no one was there to escort her back to the Citadel. Well, almost nobody.

Rosethorn's workroom was as it had been before Sandry had moved to live with her great uncle. She trailed a hand lightly over some herbs drying on the walls as she walked along. Disappointed, Sandry found no Briar in there. Her next stop was the garden, where she hit the jackpot.

Briar was kneeling down in the dirt, barefoot, talking in whispers to a daffodil. To his right was a small bunch of roses that were recently trimmed. Sandry let out a sigh she realized she had been holding ever since she left the Citadel. She took a moment to let the sight of him sink in. The sun gleamed on his head, and made his gray-green eyes twinkle.

Waveringly, Sandry put her foot forward and strolled at her own leisure towards him. He jumped when she sat next to him and blinked in confusion. Then, looking her over, taking in her woolen cloak and her fancy slippers and her light brown hair that had come out of its braid at the base of her skull during her ride, Briar asked, "What are you doing here? Don't you have a wedding to be at?"

Sandry swallowed nervously and spent a moment in silence before she said to him, "Why weren't you at the Citadel? I was waiting for you, you know."

"I told Daja and Tris to tell you I would be there later." He answered quietly, not looking at her.

"And I specifically told you to be there early so we could talk." Sandry said, her voice cracking, and she wished he wouldn't notice.

"Talk about what, Sandry? About how happy you'll be with Matthias? Or how you'll bear ten of his children and promise to name one after me, Tris, and Daja?" Briar asked through gritted teeth.

She reached over to touch his arm, but he pulled away. "Briar, that's not what I want to talk about." She plucked at strand of her hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but Briar stopped her.

"Sandry, I don't think I can handle talking to you right now. It's best if you just leave." He picked up the bouquet of roses and handed them to her. Sandry took them in her arms and looked at him questioningly. He ran a hand through his hair and explained, "It's your wedding present."

Sandry looked down at the flowers in her lap and thanked him softly. She breathed in their comforting fragrance. When she looked at Briar again, she saw him sauntering back to the cottage. Cradling the roses in her arms, she called out, "Briar! Don't leave. I want to know why you don't want to come to the most important day of my life!" She looked down so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes as they began to drip ever so slowly form her eyes. Then, eyeing him boldly, she bawled, "I _need_ to know, Briar! What's been wrong with you the past few months? Why are you so distant and cold to me? Is it because…"She went silent and noticed that her tears had crawled down her face and were dropping onto the red roses cradled in her arms. Looking up at him, she whispered, "Is it because you don't want me to get married?"

She had noticed Briar was in front of her until he was wiping away the tears from her eyes, his palms cupping her tear-stained face. The noble leaned forward to rest her forehead on his shoulder. Once she felt Briar's arms envelop her, she began to mumble, "I don't want to get married to Matthias. I need _you_, Briar. All I want is you."

She felt Briar go rigid, and then the plant mage relaxed and pulled her closer to him. In a hushed tone, he asked her, "Do you remember that time in Namorn where Fin kidnapped you and put you in that box?"

When Sandry nodded against his shoulder, Briar went on and told her, "Well, ever since Tris and I got you out of the box, I've been thinking about how much I wanted to protect you and keep you safe until we got back to Emelan. But then Shan kidnapped you back at the Canyon Inn. And I remember thinking, What good am I to you if I can't even keep Bags form kidnapping you? I wanted to tell you about how I felt ever since I got back from Gyongxe. But I felt as though I wasn't worthy of you because I couldn't even protect you. I still feel like that…"

Before Briar could carry on and list all the reasons why he didn't deserve her, Sandry pulled his head down to meet hers in a tender, passionate kiss.

When Sandry pulled away, she looked up into his eyes, smiling as she told him sternly, "Briar Moss, you deserve me just as much as I deserve you."

"What about Matthias?" Briar asked somberly, looking at the ground past Sandry.

The girl grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. She mimicked, "What about Matthias? We have each other now."

Briar grinned and leaned down to kiss her again. Sandry obliged and wrapped her arms around his neck, red roses still in her hands.

* * *

so, did u like it? hate it? jump up & down with joy? or did u want to gag?

awww...wasnt that so cute? i luv briar/sandry! BRIAR/SANDRY ROCKS!

any and all good comments r appreciated. flames r just ignored! ;)


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